IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0777085
(2007-07-12)
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등록번호 |
US-7388343
(2008-06-17)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Jones,Joseph L.
- Mass,Philip R.
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출원인 / 주소 |
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대리인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
104 인용 특허 :
174 |
초록
▼
A control system for a mobile robot (10) is provided to effectively cover a given area by operating in a plurality of modes, including an obstacle following mode (51) and a random bounce mode (49). In other embodiments, spot coverage, such as spiraling (45), or other modes are also used to increase
A control system for a mobile robot (10) is provided to effectively cover a given area by operating in a plurality of modes, including an obstacle following mode (51) and a random bounce mode (49). In other embodiments, spot coverage, such as spiraling (45), or other modes are also used to increase effectiveness. In addition, a behavior based architecture is used to implement the control system, and various escape behaviors are used to ensure full coverage.
대표청구항
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We claim: 1. A surface coverage robot comprising: at least one drive motor and at least one cleaning head motor, each motor having a motor current; sensors responsive to an environment about the robot; a memory storing: instructions configured as a set of coverage behaviors for moving about a surfa
We claim: 1. A surface coverage robot comprising: at least one drive motor and at least one cleaning head motor, each motor having a motor current; sensors responsive to an environment about the robot; a memory storing: instructions configured as a set of coverage behaviors for moving about a surface to be cleaned; instructions configured as a set of escape behaviors for escaping a confining situation; instructions configured as situation detectors to detect sensor conditions of the robot; and instructions configured as an arbiter to enable control of the drive motor and the cleaning head motor according to a behavior priority, the arbiter passing on commands from a highest priority behavior to control the motors when enabling conditions of the highest priority behavior are satisfied; and a controller in communication with the drive motor, the cleaning head motor, the sensors, and the memory, the controller executing the arbiter to control the motors according to the highest priority behavior; wherein at least one situation detector increases a detector variable each time a motor current exceeds a current threshold and compares the detector variable to a threshold level, the arbitrator resolving one of the escape behaviors as the dominant behavior when the detector variable exceeds the threshold level. 2. The surface coverage robot of claim 1, wherein the situation detector decreases the detector variable after a predetermined time increment. 3. The surface coverage robot of claim 1, wherein the arbitrator resolves one of the escape behaviors as the dominant behavior based on a rate of change over time of the detector variable. 4. The surface coverage robot of claim 3, wherein the arbitrator resolves a panic behavior when the detector variable exceeds a panic threshold and the slope of the change over time of the detector variable is positive. 5. The surface coverage robot of claim 1, wherein at least one situation detector monitors the cleaning head motor current, and at least one remaining situation detector monitors the drive motor current, the arbitrator resolving at least one drive motor escape behavior for driving the drive motors and at least one cleaning head motor escape behavior for driving the cleaning head motors as dominant behaviors to escape a confining situation based on at least one situation detector. 6. A surface coverage robot comprising: at least one drive motor and at least one cleaning head motor, each motor having a motor current; a bump sensor configured to detect an obstacle along a forward travel direction; a memory storing: instructions configured as a set of coverage behaviors for moving about a surface to be cleaned; instructions configured as a set of escape behaviors for escaping a confining situation; instructions configured as situation detectors to detect sensor conditions of the robot; and instructions configured as an arbiter to enable control of the drive motor and the cleaning head motor according to a behavior priority, the arbiter passing on commands from a highest priority behavior to control the motors when enabling conditions of the highest priority behavior are satisfied; and a controller in communication with the drive motor, the cleaning head motor, the bump sensor, and the memory, the controller executing the arbiter to control the motors according to the highest priority behavior; wherein at least one situation detector computes a distance between detected bumps and compares the distance to a bump distance threshold, the arbitrator resolving one of the escape behaviors as the dominant behavior when the distance between bumps exceeds the bump distance threshold. 7. The surface coverage robot of claim 6, wherein the distance between bumps comprises an average distance between bumps. 8. The surface coverage robot of claim 6, wherein the situation detector computes a bump time comprising an amount of time the bump sensor continuously detects a bump. 9. The surface coverage robot of claim 6, wherein comprises a spiral coverage behavior. 10. A surface coverage robot comprising: a plurality of motors each motor having a motor current; sensors responsive to an environment about the robot; a memory storing: instructions configured as a set of coverage behaviors for moving about a surface to be cleaned; instructions configured as a set of escape behaviors for escaping a confining situation, the escape behaviors comprising behaviors for driving the drive motors and behaviors for driving the cleaning head motors; instructions configured as situation detectors to detect sensor conditions of the robot; and instructions configured as an arbiter to enable control of the motors according to a behavior priority, the arbiter passing on commands from a highest priority behavior to control the motors when enabling conditions of the highest priority behavior are satisfied; and a controller in communication with the motors, the sensors, and the memory, the controller executing the arbiter to control the motors according to the highest priority behavior; wherein at least one situation detector increases a detector variable each time a motor current exceeds a current threshold and compares the variable to a threshold level, the arbitrator resolving one of the escape behaviors or one of the coverage behaviors as the dominant behavior depending on whether the detector variable exceeds the threshold level. 11. The surface coverage robot of claim 10, wherein at least one coverage behavior comprises maneuvering the robot in a substantially spiraling direction. 12. The surface coverage robot of claim 10, wherein the microcontroller computes a distance between detected bumps and compares the distance between bumps to a threshold, and when the distance between bumps is below the threshold, the arbitrator resolving as the dominant behavior at least one of an escape behavior that turns the robot substantially in place in a random direction and an escape behavior that follows an adjacent obstacle using the bump sensor. 13. A surface coverage robot comprising: at least one drive motor and at least one cleaning head motor, each motor having a motor current; sensors responsive to an environment about the robot; a memory storing: instructions configured as a set of coverage behaviors for moving about a surface to be cleaned; instructions configured as a set of escape behaviors for escaping a confining situation; instructions configured as a cliff avoidance behavior for avoiding a cliff; instructions configured as situation detectors to detect sensor conditions of the robot; and instructions configured as an arbiter to enable control of the drive motors according to a behavior priority, the arbiter passing on commands from a highest priority behavior to control the motors when enabling conditions of the highest priority behavior are satisfied; and a controller in communication with the drive motors, the sensors, and the memory, the controller executing the arbiter to control the motors according to the highest priority behavior; wherein the arbitrator resolves: a cliff avoidance behavior as the dominant behavior over coverage behaviors when a cliff detector directed to observe the cleaning surface detects a vertical drop; and an escape behavior as the dominant behavior over coverage behaviors when a situation detector detects a confining situation. 14. The surface coverage robot of claim 13 further comprising a wall following sensor in communication with the microcontroller and comprising a signal emitter and a signal detector pair collimated to intersect with a finite volume at an expected position of a wall, the situation detector monitoring signals received from the signal detector. 15. The surface coverage robot of claim 14, wherein at least one coverage behavior comprises maneuvering the robot to follow along the wall based on signals received from the wall following sensor. 16. The surface coverage robot of claim 13, wherein at least one coverage behavior comprises maneuvering the robot in a substantially spiraling direction. 17. The surface coverage robot of claim 13 further comprising a bump sensor detecting a proximate obstacle along a direction of travel. 18. The surface coverage robot of claim 17, wherein at least one coverage behavior comprises maneuvering the robot to follow an edge of an obstacle, the robot continually turning into and then away from the edge until the robot turns about 60 degrees without the bump sensor sensing contact with the edge. 19. The surface coverage robot of claim 17, wherein at least one coverage behavior comprises maneuvering the robot to follow an edge of an obstacle, the robot continually turning into and then away from the edge until the robot cumulatively turns about 170 degrees after initiation of the behavior. 20. A surface coverage robot comprising: a plurality of drive motors; a bump sensor configured to detect a proximate obstacle along a direction of travel; a memory storing: instructions configured as a set of coverage behaviors for moving about a surface to be cleaned; instructions configured as a set of escape behaviors for escaping a confining situation; instructions configured as situation detectors to detect sensor conditions of the robot; and instructions configured as an arbiter to enable control of the drive motors according to a behavior priority, the arbiter passing on commands from a highest priority behavior to control the motors when enabling conditions of the highest priority behavior are satisfied; and a controller in communication with the drive motors, the bump sensor, and the memory, the controller executing the arbiter to control the motors according to the highest priority behavior; wherein the arbitrator selects escape behaviors from among: a random direction behavior that turns the robot in a random direction, a following behavior that follows an adjacent obstacle using the bump sensor, and a speed change behavior that temporarily changes a coverage speed of the robot. 21. The surface coverage robot of claim 20, wherein the random direction behavior comprises turning the robot at a varying velocity. 22. The surface coverage robot of claim 20, wherein the following behavior comprises maneuvering the robot to follow an edge of an adjacent obstacle, the robot continually turning into and then away from the obstacle until the robot turns about 60 degrees without the bump sensor sensing contact with the edge. 23. The surface coverage robot of claim 20, wherein the following behavior comprises maneuvering the robot to follow an edge of an adjacent obstacle, the robot continually turning into and then away from the obstacle until the robot cumulatively turns about 170 degrees after initiation of the behavior. 24. The surface coverage robot of claim 20, wherein the speed change behavior comprises briefly back driving drive wheels and then stopping the drive wheels. 25. The surface coverage robot of claim 20, wherein the speed change behavior comprises temporarily driving the robot at a reduced speed.
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